That was incredible but I'm such a coward lol, had to play this in short bursts because I would get so immersed and stressed. Does not help that my name's James too. But yeah, happy to finally know why SH2 is considered one of the best games ever - a real "I get it now" moment. Plus now I can enjoy the OST I loved even before playing this with context. I've already spent hours on further videos and reading like this excellent page: https://www.silenthillmemories.net/sh2/plot_analysis_en.htm

(I know I could've pulled back the curtain and game-ified it by recklessly charging through every new level until dying and reloading saves with enemy + area layouts memorized but I wanted to keep the experience "pure")